New Neighbors
by Cormag Ravenstaff
Summary: Everyone's got their surprises. And Fang would find that her new neighbor had a pretty cool secret. AU. Oneshot. FLight.


Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy XIII.

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New Neighbors

"Finally!" shouted Fang, her voice filled with sheer enthusiasm.

"Oh, come on. It wasn't that bad," Vanille rolled her eyes as she set down her last box. The movers had left an hour ago and it had taken Fang and Vanille the past hour to unload all the small boxes from their small car.

Though it didn't help that Fang was so damn distracted with that book.

"I'll start dinner. Go read or something," Vanille said. Fang smirked and jumped backwards, landing perfectly on the couch. And she'd pulled the book from out of somewhere. Where it had been hidden, Vanille hadn't any idea.

"Thanks, Vanille," Fang smirked and became engrossed in the book. Vanille stuck her tongue out at her older sister and rolled her eyes. Fang took no notice, and Vanille left the room.

Fang couldn't help it. Her sister had gotten it for her right before they moved, and Fang was hooked. And it wasn't often Fang spent long hours reading a book.

But Fang couldn't help it. Damn it, she wanted to know what happened next.

An hour passed, and Fang cursed her inability to read faster. Vanille would have already finished the book in half the time it was taking Fang.

And then the doorbell rang.

"Fuck," Fang swore softly, putting a bookmark in.

"Fang, get your nose out of that book and answer the door!" Vanille shouted.

"Okay, okay!" Fang said as she walked to the door. The black haired woman swung the door open with a smile on her face.

She was greeted by two women, both with pink hair. Sisters?

"Hi!" greeted the smaller of the two. "We're the Farrons, and we just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood!"

Farron…that name sounded familiar.

"That's right nice of you," Fang smiled in return. She turned her head over her shoulder and shouted, "Oi! Vanille, we've got company!"

"What?" replied her sister, peeking around the corner. "Oh!"

"I'm Fang, and that's my sister Vanille," Fang said, pointing to herself and then her sister.

"And I'm Serah, and that's my sister Claire," the shorter of the two siblings outside Fang's door said.

"Come in!" Vanille invited with a wide smile.

"Oh, we really should—"

Vanille cut off Claire's futile politeness with a vigorous shake of her head, "I insist!"

Serah walked in with a smile and immediately struck up a conversation with Vanille. Claire lingered in the doorway.

"Did she drag you along?" grinned Fang, gesturing to Serah.

"Yeah…" Claire smiled softly. "I'm not usually good with people."

"Could've fooled me," Fang said with a smile, leaning against the wall.

Vanille bounded up to them and said, "Fang, I invited Serah and Claire to dinner! Serah's going to help me in the kitchen." And just like that, she was gone again.

"That was a quick friendship," Claire commented, her eyebrows raised.

"That's Vanille for you," Fang shrugged. "C'mon, we better help them."

"Yeah, Serah would be pissed if I didn't help," Claire chuckled.

* * *

Two hours and a surprisingly good meal later, Fang and Claire sat on the former's couch while Vanille showed Serah the rest of their house.

"Do you like to read?' Claire asked, gesturing to the book Fang had been stuck inside earlier. It sat atop of the small endtable next to Claire's seat.

"Not usually, but that book's something special. I'm really hooked," Fang smirked. "I haven't been that obsessed about reading something in a long time."

"Huh," Claire remarked, turning it over to read the back cover. "It looks interesting."

Fang saw the front cover of the book as Claire read the back. Specifically, the author's name.

Lightning Farron.

"Hey look at that, you and the author have the same last name," Fang marveled. "That's kind of cool, isn't it?"

"Really?" Claire said, surprised. "Maybe it's a distant relation?"

"That's be something, being related to _the_ Lightning Farron," Fang said. "She's written a bunch of books, hasn't she?"

"I think so," Claire said. She looked slightly uncomfortable, though Fang had no idea why. But she didn't have time to dwell on it since Claire asked, "Got any hobbies?"

Fang leaned back and smiled widely, "I'm quite the adept fencer, if you'd believe that."

"That's cool," Claire said, and Fang could hear genuine interest in her voice. Fang had picked up from Claire's demeanor that the slightest change in her voice usually meant more than it seemed.

"What about you? What's your thing you love to do?" Fang asked.

"I guess I fancy myself a writer," Claire said, somewhat shyly.

"I take it you're probably a fan of your distant relation's books then?" Fang joked, pointing to the book Claire had set down on the couch between them. "Here, let's see if you look similar." Fang grabbed the book and flipped open the back cover where the author's bio was.

And the picture was a mirror image of the woman in front of Fang.

"It's a penname," Claire explained quietly.

" _You're_ Lightning Farron?" Fang said, her jaw hanging open.

"International bestseller herself," Claire smiled slightly. "I usually get swarmed by fans when they find out I'm Lightning. It's second nature for me to hide it."

"A celebrity in plain sight," Fang said, understanding.

Claire laughed, "It means I can go shopping and leave unnoticed. By the way, you're getting to my favorite part of the book."

Fang twitched, "I have to resist reading now. You're putting me in suspense."

"That's what we writers do," Claire laughed lightly. "Here, give me your book. I'll sign it, just do me a favor and don't tell everyone that Lightning Farron lives next door to you."

"My lips are sealed," Fang said with a flirty wink.

Claire took a pen from her pocket and signed the book with a deft flourish. Then she added a little something extra after.

Fang accepted the book back and looked at what her new friend had written. It was her name…and a phone number.

"And this is?" Fang grinned, holding up the book.

Claire blushed and stood up. "Um…that's for…if you want to take me to dinner sometime," she said hurriedly, none of her calm visible.

"I'd love to," Fang smirked and winked.

Claire blushed further and walked towards the door and shouted to wherever Serah was, "Serah! I'll see you back home!"

Fang leaned back into the couch, pleased. Serah and Vanille came downstairs from the tour of the house.

"Fang! Did you scare her away?" Vanille asked with a lethal sweetness.

"Nope, _I_ got asked out on a date. Indirectly," Fang said triumphantly.

" _My_ sister asked you out?" Serah said, thunderstruck.

"I got her phone number," Fang said, holding up the book. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a book to read. I expect Lightning Farron herself will want to hear what I think."

"Wait, _Lightning_ Farron?' Vanille said, confused.

Fang only laughed.

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 **Author Note: That was a fun one. Probably the fastest oneshot I've ever wrote too.**


End file.
